


I Promise

by mtwoosan



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Cussing, Eventual Woosan/OFC, F/M, Multi, Past Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Train To Busan Spoilers, Train to Busan AU, i hope this doesn't flop pls enjoy, if you haven't watched the movie and plan on it maybe don't read this yet, nothing too graphic i don't think, the other members of ATEEZ and their OFC girlfriends are mentioned but not a lot sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 08:03:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23008336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtwoosan/pseuds/mtwoosan
Summary: Wooyoung surprises his girlfriend with a trip to Korea, landing in Seoul and then taking a train to Busan to see his friend San. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Choi San & Jung Wooyoung, Choi San & Original Female Character, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jung Wooyoung/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting, so I hope you all enjoy. Please leave feedback and let me know if you'd like more mini stories from this universe. Thank you!

Since we started dating three years ago, Lola and I have had to hide our relationship from her dad. He’s super racist and the one time I met him, after we’d already been dating for seven months, he tried to pay me to break up with her. I took the money, said he’d never see me again, and then took her out on a date using his funds. Made her a Build-A-Bear that she can’t sleep without if she isn’t sleeping next to me. And you’d think that the two of us being in college would make it easier, that dorms would make things easier, except her dad won’t let her room on or near campus, so every day she makes the thirty minute drive from Holly Springs to Raleigh and any time we get to spend together has to be a lie.

So it should really be no surprise that so far our third anniversary has been spent fucking in my car. There’s no other option, really. Her dad hates me and my roommate never leaves our dorm unless he has classes and also he’s a giant creep who has walked in on the two of us more than once and just stared before Lola or I caught him. We’re getting dinner at some point, but I haven’t seen Lola for longer than a few minutes in almost a week and I’m touch starved, she’s touch starved, and she literally dragged me into the back of my car when she met me a couple blocks away from her dad’s house.

But now we’re silent, we’re sated, and we’re on the verge of falling asleep. Lola is laying on top of me, her black hair knotted from where I couldn’t stop running my fingers through it, and every now and then she kisses my chest and whispers, “I love you.” It’s soft and quiet and when I lift her face up, she’s sweaty and glowing.

“I love you so much, baby girl,” I tell her. Because I do. Because she’s beautiful and amazing and makes my life brighter than I thought it could be after my first love moved to Korea before college.

“I love you too, Woo. So much. Three years doesn’t feel like a long time but also feels like my whole life and I’m glad I’ve spent them with you,” she says. She kisses the corner of my mouth, right where my lip freckles are, and I squeeze her hip.

“We should probably get dressed again if we’re going to actually eat at some point,” I say. I sit up and bring her with me, kissing her on the nose before reaching on the floor for my briefs. “Going back to where we had our first date.”

Lola’s face lights up as she asks, “Did I burn enough calories just now for my own slice of cheesecake?”

“You’re allowed to eat whatever you want, baby. Calories don’t exist tonight. Or ever. They’re a figment of our imagination. Eat whatever will make you happy.”

We get dressed quickly afterwards and Lola brushes her hair while I drive from Holly Springs to Crabtree Valley Mall. Parking is always a pain near Cheesecake Factory, so I park us near the food court and the two of us walk through half the mall before reaching our destination. It’s always a long wait and it’s only longer because of our recreational car activities, but time spent with Lola is time spent well. I just can’t wait for us to actually sit down and order. I can’t wait to tell her about our anniversary surprise.

It only takes an hour before we’re being seated, menus in our hands. Lola is looking intently at the menu even though she gets the same thing every time we come here, same drink, same meal, same cheesecake. She’s so focused on the menu that she doesn’t realize I’ve just been staring at her since we sat down until she looks up and snorts.

“You’re such a creep, Woo, I swear,” she says, throwing a sugar packet at my head.

“Yeah, but you’re so beautiful,” I say. Before she can turn down my compliment, I add, “After dinner, I thought we could walk around the mall. Disney, Lego, Build-A-Bear. Whatever you wanna do, yeah?”

“Can we go to Sephora? I think TooFaced released more peach-scented makeup.”

I take her hand in mine and kiss the back of it before saying, “Whatever you wanna do, Lola.”

Once the waiter comes and we order, I set her hand back down on the table and grab the piece of paper out of my pocket. Lola looks up, eyes wide, and I smile. She’s going to flip her shit, I know she is.

“Remember when I asked if you had a passport?” I ask. Lola nods and I unfold the piece of paper. “In two days, we fly out to South Korea for a week. We’re gonna land in Seoul and stay with some of my family for a couple days before taking a train to Busan to see San! Then we’ll fly back home from Busan. Please tell me you’re excited! Sanie and I worked hard to pay for this trip.”

Lola smiles hesitantly before saying, “Woo, what about my dad? I can’t just…up and leave the country with you, as much as I’d love to see Korea and meet San in person. He’s not going to let me, especially when he thinks we broke up, remember?”

“I already worked it out with your mom, babe. Next week is spring break and she’s gonna say you’re with her and your dad will be none the wiser. She’ll cover for us. It’s going to be fine, I promise. Please say you’ll go with me. These tickets are non-refundable and San is excited to meet you. I mean, my grandparents are excited to meet you too, but mostly San. I think he’s more excited to meet you than he is to see me again.”

I watch my girlfriend run a hand down her face before propping her elbow up on the table and resting her head on her hand. “We’re really doing this?” she asks. “Like, the whole thing is paid for? You really did this for us?”

“Well yeah, Lola. You’ve shown me where you grew up. I wanna show you where my family is from. And meeting San is an added bonus.”

“Jung Wooyoung, I love you so fucking much,” she says. Lola reaches across the table to take my hand in hers, placing a gentle kiss there before saying, “Of course I’ll go with you to Korea. I’d love nothing more. Plus, I’d love to meet Sanie. Can we call him?”

I check the time on my phone and smile. He should be up at his coffee shop now getting ready for the day. I text him to make sure he’s not in the middle of something and instead of getting a text back, my phone starts ringing with a video call from San. I prop my phone against the wall and the rest of our anniversary dinner is spent talking with San about everything we’ll be doing in Korea.

Seeing both of them so happy and so excited to meet each other, I know everything will be okay. I’ll be reunited with my best friend, my first love, and he’ll get to meet my new love. It won’t be awkward, we’ll all be happy, and the trip will go by fine.

What could go wrong?


	2. Train to Busan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POVs alternate between Wooyoung and Lola and should be pretty obvious when they do :) There's also some text conversations between San and Wooyoung. Enjoy!

We just boarded the train to Busan and Lola is already asleep, her arms wrapped around my left arm and her head on my shoulder. I press a kiss to her forehead and grab my phone from my jacket, checking Twitter and then going into KakaoTalk. I told San I’d let him know when we were leaving the station and even though we’re not moving yet, I have nothing better to do right now.

_hey nerd we’re on the train. about to leave soon._

_ah, good! i can’t wait to see you, woo. and meet lola._

_you guys comfortable on the train?_

_yeah the seats are nice!! and she’s already asleep_

_pics??_

I take a quick picture of Lola asleep on my shoulder and send it his way, getting the heart eyes emoji soon after. It doesn’t surprise me anymore when San sends emojis like that. After all, my girl is gorgeous asleep or awake. He reacts the same way when I send him selfies, so I just roll my eyes before pocketing my phone again. People are starting to sit down and since I have nothing better to do at the moment, I people watch. There are a lot of couples in our car and quite a few businesspeople. They keep glancing over at us, staring at Lola or at my light purple hair, and I wish I could give them all the finger or say something but I can’t. They’re all my elders and I’m not in America anymore. Respect is just given, never earned. Instead, I glare back at anybody who stares and soon they look the other way. I forgot how closed-minded people could be, though you’d think I’d be used to it, being a Korean boy in the southern half of the United States.

The train starts moving and causes Lola to shift, rubbing her cheek on my shoulder and mumbling, “Woo, that was fast. Are we there already? Do I have time to look cute for Sanie?”

I chuckle before whispering, “No, baby girl, we’re just now leaving the station. I’ll wake you up when we get close so you can make sure you look cute for San, okay?”

Instead of answering verbally, Lola squeezes my arm and swiftly falls back asleep. It’s sweet she wants to look cute for my best friend. Maybe I should do the same once we get closer to Busan…

“How long have you two been together?” the woman seated across from us asks me in Korean. She’s traveling alone, just her and a briefcase, and she’s probably bored. Or lonely. I would be too.

“Three years,” I reply. “I planned a surprise anniversary trip for us. She got to meet some of my family here in Seoul and now we’re visiting my best friend in Busan before we leave.”

The woman smiles at me, then peers around to see Lola’s face. “She’s very lovely. Ah, young love. And three years? Don’t you think it’s time to be getting engaged?”

Engaged. That’s something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. Is it time for us to be engaged? Yeah, we’ve been together for three years now, but we’re still in college. And then there’s the part where we have to move out, find jobs, get our lives in order. And the whole thing where her dad doesn’t know we’re still dating. And a slight problem with me still being slightly in love with San.

I know Lola can tell that there are still some feelings involved when it comes to me and San. He was my high school boyfriend, we dated all four years and would’ve stayed together if he hadn’t moved to Korea. I can tell he still loves me and I still love him too. I don’t think we’ll ever not love each other. But now I have Lola and I love her. I love her so fucking much and she loves me. And I’m not going to give up what we have. I can’t do it.

I go to reply to the woman, but people come running past us screaming, shouting about monsters and blood and I’m not sure what’s going on. More people rush past us, the screaming getting louder, and a lot of them are bloodied. I can’t tell if it’s their blood or not. I look over at the woman, who peers down the aisle before she stands and begins running as well, screaming as she leaves her briefcase on the seat next to her. I’m confused, I have no idea what’s going on in the cars back there, so I look down the aisle as well and why…why is that lady biting that man? Why are so many people….being bitten?

“Run! Zombies, run!” a man screams from the other car. He’s got blood on his shirt and before he can make it to our car, the woman jumps onto his back and bites his neck. Hard. There’s just…there’s so much blood. I didn’t think a human could bite another human that hard. I didn’t know blood could spray like that. It’s just. It’s everywhere. There’s blood everywhere.

When the woman stops biting him, the man falls to the ground and begins convulsing before standing and looking straight into our car. His eyes are weird. They’re not dark anymore. They look blue. Not pretty like Lola’s but a sickly shade of pale blue. The door is open and when he realizes he can get in, he jumps on the closest passenger, latching onto her neck and not letting go, even as she screams and tries to fight him off. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but I know I need to wake up Lola and get us the fuck out of here. I don’t have time to grab our bags, just my girlfriend, so I shake her and say, “Lola, baby, come on. We gotta go.”

“Are we there?” she mumbles, rubbing her eyes as I shake her a bit more. She’s not getting up though and there are more monsters behind the man and they’re getting closer, screaming louder, rushing towards us, so I pick her up and start running. “Woo, what’s going on? What’s happening?” she asks, waking up more the further we get from the monsters and the louder the screaming gets.

“I don’t know, babe, but it’ll be okay. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen.”

Lola raises her head from the crook of my neck, looking at what we’ve left behind, and unwraps her legs from around my waist before touching the floor. She grabs my hand and begins running. There are some people who were bitten in the cars behind us that are now up here and have changed, launching themselves at passengers trying to escape, and we manage to dodge them as they infect more people. Lola has a death grip on my hand. I can’t feel it anymore but I’d rather lose feeling in my hand than lose her.

We’re almost to the end of the train, a pregnant woman and a man, I think her husband, running in front of us, when the doors to the safe cars are slammed closed in front of us. “Fuck!” I shout, pushing Lola up towards the pregnant woman. “Stay with her, I’ll…try to barricade back here or something.”

The man punches a few approaching passengers, but it’s not doing much good and as much as I like to think I’m strong enough to fight, these aren’t humans and there isn’t exactly a few of them. There are hundreds, most of the train has been turned by whatever is going on, and the husband realizes that at the same time as me.

“Go!” he shouts, shoving me. “Get that door open!” The girls are banging, begging for entry, and a man is just staring at them. It doesn’t look like he’s going to let us in until the man and I give up on fighting the passengers off and run towards the door. As soon as we’re through, they slam the doors shut and the monsters catch up, banging against the glass, snarling and wiping blood on the window.

“Lola, are you okay?” I ask, running my hands down Lola’s arms and then inspecting her face, my hands on her cheeks as I move her head to the left and then the right. She smiles softly before standing on her tiptoes to kiss my nose.

“I’m okay, Woo, I promise. I’m okay. They didn’t get me,” she says. I pull her into my arms and hug her tightly, kissing her shoulder, hair, neck, cheek, wherever my lips will land. “Please tell me you’re okay. They didn’t get you when you were helping that man?”

“I’m okay, too. That man kept me out of the way for the most part. Protected me more than I could help,” I tell her. I turn to where the man and his wife are standing, the man heated from whatever argument he just had with the man who wasn’t going to let us through. “Thank you for your help. My name is Wooyoung and this is my girlfriend Lola.”

He grunts before saying, “Sanghwa. This is my wife Seongkyeong. And you’re welcome.”

When Lola found out my mother could only speak broken English, she taught herself Korean so that when they met, she could have a conversation with my mother without having to fully rely on me. It was the first time I realized I was going to fall in love with her. Her Korean is passable and she uses the words she does know to speak to Seongkyeong, asking about the baby in an attempt to distract them both from whatever the fuck is going on. Next to us, the man who let us in is talking to a little girl, his daughter I think, while everybody else around us huddles close to their loved ones. A lot of people are on their phones, Naver searches pulled up or text message conversations with friends and family on their screens, and I pat my back pocket. I still have my phone.

“Baby, I’m gonna call Sanie, okay?” I say. Lola nods, reaching for my free hand and holding it tightly so I can’t walk away from her. Not that I would even think of leaving her side. Not right now. Not when all this shit is happening.

My call to San connects after the second ring and before he can say anything, I’m spitting out, “San, what the fuck is going on?”

“Are you and Lola safe?” he asks, avoiding my question.

“Yeah, we’re safe. There’s monsters on the train, though. We barely made it to a safe car, but we’re okay.”

“You weren’t bitten, right? They didn’t get to you two?”

“We weren’t bitten. We’re okay, Sanie”

“Oh, thank fuck,” he says. It comes rushed out, like he was holding his breath, and I wish I could be as relieved as he is right now. I’m still too wired. “I was scared shitless for you two.” He sighs and takes another deep breath, then says, “There’s some sort of…zombie shit going around. I don’t know how to describe it or what else to call it. But Busan got word quickly and locked down the city. We’re all close to the coast in a safe zone. I think your train will still come here. They left the station open and it’s close enough that I think soldiers are guarding the entryways. Fuck, I’m just so happy you’re safe. That you’re both okay, fuck, I was so scared. Holy shit. You’re. You’re both alive.”

I chuckle, try to calm the conversation back down. “I’m glad we’re okay too. And that you’re okay.” At that, Lola looks up at me, a question in her eyes, and I squeeze her hand in answer. Yes, love. San is safe. “You said Busan is safe?”

“For now, yeah. I think there are other safe zones set up, other cities between Seoul and here, but I’m not sure. I’m only a civilian, so the soldiers haven’t told me or anybody else much except where to go. We’re all spread out in different buildings at the moment, armed soldiers at the doorways just to be safe.”

I’m about to ask San another question when the speakers of the train crackle to life, the conductor coming on to tell us we’ll be stopping at the next train station, Daejeon. We’re still so far from Busan, but he keeps reiterating that it’s a safe zone, much to the displeasure of the other passengers.

“Sanie, is Daejeon safe? Can you see if any of the solders know if Daejeon is okay? They’re stopping us there,” I ask my best friend. There’s a pause as he pulls the phone from his face and I can hear him asking somebody a question in the background. A few seconds later, he returns.

“The soldiers appear to believe so, yeah. Let me know once you get through? Please, just. Keep me updated. I can only imagine how scared you both are, but I feel helpless. I wish I was with you both. I wish I could help keep you both safe.”

I look down at my hand linked with Lola’s, then at her face. She’s looking up at me again and smiling softly. I can see the fear and terror in her eyes, but I know that if we stick together, we’ll be alright. I won’t let anything hurt her.

“I will, San. I gotta go. I’ll let you know once we’re in Daejeon.”

“Okay. Thank you. I love you, Wooyoung. And I love Lola too, okay? Please pass on my love to her. I hope to see you both soon. No. I know I’ll see you both soon.”

San hangs up before I can say anything else and I sigh. I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. I don’t know what to plan for or expect once we get to Daejeon. I guess we’ll just…have to keep our eyes open and be prepared for anything.

\---

Stepping off the train at Daejeon Station to utter silence and empty platforms is eerie. I’ve never been at a train station this still before. I shiver and Wooyoung unwraps his arm from around my shoulders, quickly taking his cardigan off and placing it on me. Once I get it on, he pulls me back close to him and plants a kiss on my forehead. The two of us follow Sanghwa and Seongkyeong off the platform and up the stairs. She has a hand resting on her stomach and Sanghwa keeps glancing over to make sure she’s alright while also keeping an eye out for any zombies.

Before we’d exited the train, Sanghwa looked at Wooyoung and me and told us to stick with him and his wife, that together the four of us would be fine, so that’s what we’re doing. The stairs take us up into the main station, where it’s still completely silent, but there are pathways for us to follow to the soldiers and the quarantine area. I can’t wait to get there. I can’t wait for this waking nightmare to be over. Once we were safe in the car, I kept trying to pinch myself awake, but Woo stopped me. This is real. This is happening. Zombies are here. And all we can do is run.

Sanghwa turns to look at us and smiles. “I remember when Seongkyeong and I were young and in love. It’ll be okay. We’ll be safe soon,” he says. Seongkyeong glances back at us as well and smiles.

Even though they’re smiling, trying to put on brave faces, I can still see the fear in their eyes, the uncertainty that we’ll live through the next five minutes, but I appreciate them keeping an eye out for us. Some might say it’s better to fend for yourself in circumstances like this, but I don’t think that’s true. I think having a group to work with is better. Eyes everywhere.

The pathway leads us to a set of escalators and a stairway and as much as I want to run down those stairs and rush into freedom, we follow Sanghwa onto the escalators. He stays in front of us and we slowly make our way down. Everybody is still so quiet and I think I can see the soldiers below, most likely waiting so they can get us through the quarantine procedures faster, but when the people closest to the clearing make eye contact with the soldiers, they begin screaming, trying to turn around and run up the stairs and escalators. I can’t see what’s happening, but when Sanghwa picks up Seongkyeong and drops her on the stairs, Wooyoung does the same to me, telling me to run.

I glance backwards and the soldiers…they’re all zombies.

Our would-be saviors are attacking the closest survivors.

Seongkyeong grabs my arm and pulls me with her, the two of us running as fast as we can, but she’s pregnant and I didn’t think I’d be doing a lot of running when I put these boots on before we left. Sanghwa and Wooyoung are close behind but I don’t…I don’t want to be separated from Woo. I don’t want to not be by his side. I don’t know enough Korean to make it on my own and I don’t know what I’d do if he was bitten. If he got turned. I know he’d want me to go on, but I’m not sure I could. I don’t think I could leave him behind.

The zombies are closing in on us as we make our way back to the glass doors we came through. There’s a hallway to our left and thankfully Sanghwa sees a zombie lunging towards the little girl from the train. He elbows it just in time before Seongkyeong grabs her hand, taking her away with us. I don’t know where her dad is. Why would he leave her behind? How could he be so careless with his own daughter?

We run through the doors, but when I turn around to see where Wooyoung is, he’s with the other men trying to keep the zombies out. I stop, freeze in my tracks, as I watch Wooyoung shove with all his strength to get the door closed, working with Sanghwa to try and get the pin through. I can hear Seongkyeong shouting for me to follow her, repeatedly shouting for me to keep running, but I can’t leave Woo.

“Lola, please get back to the train!” he says, glancing back at me for a moment before focusing once more on the zombies trying to get at him. “Please, I’ll be right there, I promise you. I will find you. I just want you to get safely to the train. I need you to. For me.”

“I love you,” I say, not able to stop the tears from streaming down my face. “I love you so much, Wooyoung.”

“I love you too, baby girl. Now go. I’ll be right with you.”

I stumble backwards a few steps before turning to join Seongkyeong and the little girl, the three of us running once more. I don’t know how Seongkyeong is able to run this much, she’s so pregnant, but I use that as motivation to keep up. I pass Seongkyeong and the little girl, peering into train cars to see if there are any free of zombies, when I notice two elderly women. I remember them from earlier, I think they’re sisters, and as I’m helping them run faster, zombies fall from the top of the train and on top of us, splitting the three of us. The fall seems to have stunned the zombie at least because before he can do anything, Seongkyeong helps one sister up and I help the other.

But then the zombie turns and snarls at Seongkyeong, who grabs the little girl and the old woman before running again. They’re trying to find an open car while I’m left debating if I follow my friends or help the elderly woman on the train.

I don’t get to choose though. A train attendant and girl a few years younger than me grab us by the shoulders and drag us onto the train. There are other survivors in the car and after we get on, they slam the train car shut and begin securing the entrances so nobody else can join us.

I reach into my back pocket to find my phone. I need to make sure Wooyoung is on this train, that he’s safe and alive and that I’ll see him soon, but my call won’t go through. It’s going straight to voicemail and I don’t know why. I call three more times, hoping that this time I’ll get through, but each time I just get his voicemail.

I have no other choice.

“Wooyoung, you better call me back as soon as you get this or I’m breaking up with you. I won’t let your voicemail be the last time I hear your voice, do you understand me? Call me back, please, the train is leaving and I’m on it. You have to be too or I’m getting off right now and finding you.”

\---

Thanks to Sanghwa, I made it onto the train with him, Yongguk the high school baseball player, and Seokwoo a.k.a. the man who shut the doors in our faces at the start of this shit. I’m trying to call Lola but none of my calls are going through and my text messages aren’t sending. I don’t know why, I have signal and we both have international data plans, so I should be able to reach her. I should be able to hear her voice or get a text message from her but I’m just not. Fuck.

Seokwoo is trying to get in touch with his daughter but she’s not answering her cell phone and Sanghwa is trying to call his wife. The only one that seems to be getting through to anybody is Yongguk, texting away with his girlfriend that was on the train with him and his baseball team. Sanghwa calls his wife again and the call connects because I can hear screaming from the other end of the phone. That’s Seokwoo’s daughter. I hear her tell him that the zombies are attacking them, that they’re trying to get the door to the bathroom closed, and then Seongkyeong shouts out the number of their train car before the call disconnects.

I didn’t hear Lola. She was supposed to be with Seongkyeong but I didn’t hear her. Sanghwa seems to make the same connection, looking quickly over at me as I try to call her one more time.

It goes straight to voicemail.

I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how else to reach her. Maybe San heard from her?

I step away from the group, Sanghwa and Seokwoo talking about how to get to the bathroom, my phone already calling San.

“Hey, did you already make it through Daejeon?” he asks once we connect.

“It was overrun,” I say. I try to keep calm like I was earlier but my mind is rushing through every situation Lola could possibly be in right now.

“Does that mean you’re heading to Busan again?”

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know where else we’d go and the conductor hasn’t said anything over the speakers. Probably doesn’t want to stir up the zombies.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll let the soldiers know that a train is heading for us with survivors. Do you know how many of you there are?”

“There used to be a hundred of us. I don’t know how many made it back onto the train without being bitten.”

“Okay. Thank you, Woo. You’re being very strong right now and I’m so proud of you. I’ll let the soldiers know soon.” San is quiet for a second before asking, “Can I talk to Lola?”

Lola.

“We got separated,” I say, voice cracking. Saying that out loud makes the panic set in completely and I can’t help the tears I held back from streaming down my face. “I can’t get a hold of her. I was trying to get the doors shut behind us and told her to run onto the train and that I’d see her and I don’t know where the fuck she is. She’s not with the woman I told her to stay with and I don’t know what to do, San. She can’t be dead. I told her everything would be okay and now I don’t know where she is.”

“Woo, calm down. I’m sure she’s fine. You didn’t see her when you were getting back on the train, right? So I’m sure she’s on the train too,” San says.

I want to believe him. I want to believe him so fucking badly. I feel like if Lola was gone, if she’d been turned, I’d feel it in my heart right now. But besides the anxiety, I feel okay. I feel like she’s okay.

“Excuse me?” Yongguk says from next to me. “Your girlfriend, she’s American, right? Black hair and a navy blue cardigan?”

I sit up straight and say, “That’s my Lola.”

“You found Lola?” San asks over the phone, but I ignore him as Yongguk shows me the conversation with his girlfriend.

“She’s at the front of the train. She’s okay, see? Jinhee is with her right now,” Yongguk says, smiling.

“San, she’s okay! She’s alive and safe at the front of the train,” I can’t help but to exclaim. San cheers on the other end of the phone and I want to keep talking to him, but Sanghwa and Seokwoo have started gearing up for our rescue mission through multiple cars to get their wife and daughter. “I have to go. We’re gonna rescue some important people, the people Lola was with before. I’ll call when I find her.”

“Please do, Wooyoung,” San says. He takes a deep breath before saying, “I love you, Woo. I love Lola too. Let her know when you find her.”

“I love you too, Sanie.”

I’m about to hang up when San says, “No. I love you. I love you both. I still love you like I did back in high school and I love her like you love her. Please stay safe until we meet again.”

He hangs up before I can respond. And it’s a lot to think about, but right now I have to put it to the back of my mind, save my friends, and get to my girlfriend. So when Sanghwa passes me the tape and some of the magazines stored in the back of the train seats, I tape up my forearms. I wish I had sleeves like Seokwoo and Yongguk, but I gave Lola my cardigan. Sanghwa sees me trying to pull my sleeves down and takes his scarf off, ripping it in half. He wraps both pieces around my upper arms, tying them and then smiling.

“We’re gonna be fine, Wooyoung. We’ll get Seongkyeong and then we’ll get Lola.” He flexes and then heads towards the train car doors. “Let’s go.”

\---

That stupid fucking old man. That stupid, evil, manipulative, asshole of an old man. As soon as I finished my message to Wooyoung, he yanked my phone out of my hand. Apparently he knows enough English to understand that I was being “rude to the one in charge of the relationship” and he threw my phone towards the back of the train car. By the time I got to it, another person in the car had taken it upon themselves to stomp their heel into the screen. It shattered and now I can’t get it to turn on. I have no way to get in touch with Wooyoung now. I can’t reach out to San either. How am I supposed to know if they’re alive or not?

I wipe my eyes and look up to see the girl who dragged me on the train in front of me, a smile on her face as she bounces a bit where she stands. “Do you know Korean?” she asks in English. When I nod, she shows me her phone, “Your boyfriend, the one you called? He’s with my friend right now!”

I read the bit of conversation mentioning Wooyoung and asking about me before she scrolls down, a selfie of a baseball player and my Wooyoung at the end. They’ve both got magazines taped to their arms, baseball bats in hand. Behind them are Sanghwa and the other man, both of them also taped up and ready to fight.

“They’re on their way now! They’re going to fight their way through to the front of the train and rescue some other people on the way!”

Some other people? Seongkyeong? The little girl? The other elderly woman? I stand and grip the girl’s arms before saying, “You’re sure?”

“I’m positive! They’re coming for us!”

The two of us sit together after that, her keeping her phone in her hands as she waits for any updates from her boyfriend Yongguk and me staring at her screen as well to know when Wooyoung will be here. I hope it’s soon. I hope they’re all safe. At first Jinhee and I were trying to keep each other preoccupied and talk about our lives, her schooling in Korea, my major in America, how long she’s known Yongguk, how long I’ve been dating Wooyoung, but then she asked why we’re in Korea.

“I was meeting his family in Seoul,” I say. “They’re probably all dead now, but they were really sweet to me. I was happy to meet them. They really liked me. But the main reason we came to Korea was so I can meet his best friend San. He’s in the safe zone in Busan right now. I hope he’s still okay.”

“If he’s in the safe zone, I’m sure he’s fine,” Jinhee says, holding my hand. “You’ll get to see Wooyoung again and meet San, I’m sure of it!”

Jinhee’s phone buzzes in her lap and she excitedly picks it up, squealing and showing me the screen. “They got to the other people and they’re on their way now!”

“Did he say if Wooyoung is okay?” I ask her. She texts Yongguk back quickly and he replies just as fast. “He’s okay! And they’ll be here before we know it!”

Before I can say anything else to Jinhee, she stands up and announces to the car, “My friends are on their way!”

The asshole who threw my phone looks over skeptically at her. “What do you mean there are people on their way?”

“My friends were towards the end of the train and they rescued some people! They’re four cars away. They’ll be here soon!” Jinhee exclaims.

I know she’s excited. The other people on the train seem impressed. But it only takes one person to put people in a frenzy.

“They made it through all those creatures and didn’t get bitten?” he asks. “All those train cars, all those zombies, and they’re fine? How is that possible?”

Jinhee doesn’t know what to say to that and I’m not sure what to say either. I know that my Wooyoung, that our new friends, I know they’re all okay. They wouldn’t lie about being bitten. None of them are selfish enough to possibly put other lives in trouble. They just want to help people. They just want to be reunited with their friends and family. They wouldn’t put us in danger like that.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Jinhee says. “They would tell me if they weren’t. They wouldn’t put us in danger.”

“But how can you be so sure!” the man shouts. The rest of the car is silent now. “Secure the doors. We can’t let them in.”

Jinhee goes to slap him, but he yanks her phone out of her hand and stomps on it, much like he did to my phone. That was my last line of communication with Wooyoung. How am I supposed to know if he’s still okay? To know if Sanghwa, Seongkyeong, the little girl, her dad, and the elderly woman are okay? Men start securing the doors with ties and button up shirts, women donating shirts if they have any underneath, and the businessman makes sure two stronger men hold Jinhee back. One even goes so far to put his hand over her mouth so she can’t scream for Yongguk.

Fuck this.

“You bastard!” I shout, repeating it in Korean afterwards. The man glares at me. “They wouldn’t put us in danger, so we shouldn’t leave them in danger! How dare you leave them to die!”

I don’t know when I got so close to him, but I take the opportunity to punch him in the face. It feels good, I feel strong, but then there are men restraining me, a hand over my mouth, and more ties being added to the door.

\---

Sanghwa wants me to help Yongguk smash through the glass because we can’t get in. There are so many zombies trying to fight through, he’s trying to get the door closed with Seokwoo, but it’s not working. I should be helping him. I should be helping them get the door shut. I should be giving Seongkyeong or the homeless man the baseball bat to help Yongguk so I can help my friend, but he wants me here. And if he wants me here, then I’ll stay here. I’ll do what needs to be done. Sanghwa has a plan, I’m sure of it, and we’ll be fine. We’re going to get through this door and I’m going to find Lola and will be safe again. For now. Forever?

Except as soon as we start to get the glass to crack, Seongkyeong screams. I look behind to see a zombie latched onto his hand, Seokwoo staring in shock before managing to push the zombie back and off of my friend’s hand.

The man who made sure to keep Lola and me safe. The man who just wanted to help as many people as he possibly could. The man who still just wants to keep us safe. He just…sacrificed himself for us. Even though he has a daughter on the way.

I have a renewed energy to me, a motivation to make sure we get through and that Sanghwa’s sacrifice will not have been in vain. Yongguk and I begin hammering away at the door and soon the glass shatters. There were people standing in the vestibule, holding the door shut with ties and other articles of clothing, and as we run through the shattered door, they try to slam the next door in our faces but Yongguk is able to get his arm in between the door and the wall before they can. A businessman is yelling for them to shut the door, but behind him is Yongguk’s friend and Lola, both held back with hands over their mouths.

“Let go of my girlfriend, you dicks!” I shout, pulling on the door to free Yongguk’s arm and get to Lola. Sanghwa is shouting at Seongkyeong and Seokwoo, the little girl is crying, the homeless man is crying, and the elderly woman is shaking her head, looking from the zombies to the car of selfish people.

“Just let us in, you assholes! We could die!” I shout. Yongguk and I are still pulling as hard as we can and soon Seokwoo joins us. With him helping us, we get the door open, the three of us falling in and on top of the men who’d tried to keep us out.

Shortly after we fall in, Sanghwa is trying to push the zombies back. Seokwoo jumps up to help the others in while Yongguk and I stand, both of us rushing to our girlfriends. I push the men off of Lola and then turn around when the door slams behind us. The homeless man, Seongkyeong, the little girl, and Seokwoo are all there…but where’s the elderly woman?

Seokwoo and I make eye contact, him shaking his head to let me know she didn’t make it in, and now I’m furious. They had all the time in the world to let us in, to open the doors so we could all live. I never even found out the elderly woman’s name. I don’t know what she did for a living, where she grew up, if she was ever married or had kids. I never got to know her as an actual person and now I never will.

I’m about to start yelling again but Seokwoo beats me to it, punching the man who has taken charge back here. I take a deep breath, try to calm down, and soon feel Lola’s arms wrapped around me again as she hugs me tightly.

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you again. I was so scared, Wooyoung, don’t leave me again!” she cries into my chest.

“I won’t. I won’t leave again. It’s the two of us from here on out. I promise,” I say, kissing the top of her head. I rub her back over the cardigan I’d draped on her earlier and only focus on everything going on around us when Seokwoo places a hand on my back.

“Come on. We have to go to the vestibule,” he says. “We’re not wanted here.”

I take Lola’s hand in mine and lead us to the door, Yongguk and his girlfriend ahead of us and the others behind us. Once we’re in the vestibule, we can hear them begin to secure the door on the other side so we can’t get to them. I don’t know why they still think we’re infected or that we’re going to turn. We’re not. None of us would’ve come here if we were going to turn. Sanghwa was turning and still protected everybody from the zombies. We’re not assholes like them. We wouldn’t turn our backs on people in need of being saved.

I can’t help but think about Sanghwa as we all stand in silence, letting everything that’s happened soak in. I want to call San but before I can grab my phone, the little girl tugs on my pants.

“What’s your name?” she asks.

“I’m Wooyoung. You?”

“Suan,” she says, a big smile on her face. “Thank you for helping my daddy save me.”

“You’re welcome, Suan. Thank you for being so brave and helping me find my girlfriend,” I say, Lola nudging her face into my neck.

Suan smiles some more before tilting her head to the side and asking, “Are you an idol? Your hair is purple and only idols have purple hair.”

I laugh, Lola snickering next to me, and say, “No, I’m not an idol. Just a college kid from America.”

I try to keep Suan distracted while her father checks up on Seongkyeong, but soon we hear screaming from the safe car. The handle begins shaking rapidly as people scream, blood splashing against the glass. Lola immediately goes back to hiding her face in my neck and I rub her back. I can’t block out the sounds of the zombies, but I can at least comfort her while this shit is going on.

I feel awful for Suan, though. She’s just a little girl. I can only imagine how terrified she must be. I also feel awful for Seongkyeong. She’s so pregnant and her husband was just turned. I’m surprised she’s not crying more than she is, but I think she had accepted this could happen. She’s being so strong. I’m surrounded by incredibly strong people.

“I called you when I got on the train, but it wasn’t connecting,” I say once things have calmed down in the other car. Everybody must be infected now. “I was able to call San, though.”

“They stomped on my phone. Jinhee’s, too. They didn’t want you guys to come in, as you know. I called and left a message. Did you get it?” I shake my head and she laughs. “I threatened to break up with you if you didn’t come back. But you did, so I guess we’re still together.”

“Well that’s certainly a relief,” I joke. “San told the soldiers in Busan to be ready for us. He also said he loves us.”

Lola kisses my neck and says, “Well yeah, of course he does. We’re pretty great. I love him too.”

I make sure nobody else is paying attention to us before saying, “No baby, he _loves_ us. Like we love each other and like he and I loved each other in high school.”

Lola looks up quickly, a small smile on her face. “Did you tell him you love him, too?”

“He hung up before I could say anything,” I tell her. “That and I wasn’t going to say anything if it wasn’t reciprocated by all parties. I know you know I still love him and now you know he loves both of us. The only thing now is how do you feel about San?”

She thinks about how to answer for a few seconds before saying, “I know I’ve not met him, but I think I love him, too. All of the conversations we’ve had over the years, the video calls the three of us have had together and all the video calls I’ve had with just him. I think it’d be easy to fall in love with San. I think it’d be nice, loving you and loving him too. I think we could make it work. The three of us. As long as, yanno. We survive until we get to Busan.”

I take my phone out of my pocket and open my KakaoTalk conversation with San.

_sanie! i found her! lola is safe in my arms!_

_oh thank fuck i was getting so worried!!!_

_holy shit_

_oh god you’re both safe i’m just so happy_

_me too sanie me too <3_

_speaking of <3_

_it’s okay if you don’t love me, woo._

_if neither of you do._

_i just needed you to know, in case anything happened._

_sanie_

_we love you_

_we both love you_

_yes, we love you like that_

_just like you love us_

_and you better kiss us as soon as we see you_

_or we will cry_

_i thought you were a dom now, woo_

_only for lola_

_not for you_

_does that mean i have two babies now?_

_as long as you kiss us both as soon as we see you – lola_

_< 3 <3_

_for both of you_

_< 3 <3_

_from both of us_

_see you soon, sanie_

\---

We were cruising along on the train when suddenly the train begins to stop, the brakes squealing outside. We all look at each other and as Seokwoo is about to say something, the conductor comes on over the speakers saying, “Attention, please. Due to a track blockage, we have stopped at East Daegu Station. We will be waiting for the rescue team or disembarking for another train to Busan. When this announcement is concluded, I will find a working train and put it on the far left track. I repeat, far left track. If you’re alive, please transfer safely. Godspeed.”

Seokwoo is talking to Suan and Seongkyeong, Yongguk and Jinhee are talking as well, and the homeless man seems like he’ll just follow whatever the rest of us do. Wooyoung turns me to look him in the eyes and the first thing I say is, “I want to hear San’s voice again. Just one more time?”

Wooyoung doesn’t say anything, just pulls his phone out, and calls Sanie.

“Hey, babes,” San says and I instantly smile. “Is everything okay? Have you made it to Busan?”

“Not yet, Sanie. There’s a blockage on the tracks in East Daegu, so we have to get off the train and get to another one that the conductor is getting ready,” Wooyoung says. “Lola wanted to call you before we got off the train, though.”

“I love you, San,” I say. I need him to know. He’s heard Wooyoung say it to him before and I’ve said it when we were just friends, but he’s never heard me say it when we could be something more.

“I love you, Lola. Both of you. We’re all waiting for you,” he says. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but maybe this will be extra incentive for you two to stay safe and get to the other train, but I invited Hongjoong, Rayna, Seonghwa, Ellie, Yunho, Mira, Yeosang, Jongho, Mingi, and Jo to meet us in Busan. It was supposed to be a surprise reunion and so everybody could meet Lola, but then Korea went to shit and zombies happened.”

“You’re incentive enough, San, and we’ll stay safe for you but also for them now too. I’ll let you know when we get on the other train. We gotta get off this one now, though. We love you. Both Lola and me.”

“I love you and Lola too. So much.”

San hangs up and once Woo pockets his phone again, we all come to the same conclusion that it’s time to head out into the real world again. Woo holds my hand tightly and keeps me close as Seokwoo opens the door. He steps out first, followed by Suan and Seongkyeong, then Yongguk and Jinhee, the homeless man, and then Woo and I last. It’s quiet, it’s so fucking quiet, and it’s unnerving again. The world shouldn’t be this silent. I can’t hear any movement when there should be. There should be activity of some sort. There should be zombies somewhere, right?

We walk around trains and as we’re getting ready to circle in front of another, the ground begins to shake, everything is shaking, and I don’t know what’s happening. Yongguk shouts but we can’t hear him. The train we’re next to is rattling and soon another train passes by. It’s on fire and slightly off-balance, ramming into the train next to us.

I can’t hear anything, but Wooyoung is shaking me and trying to help me sit up again. I look past my boyfriend and all I can see is zombies, the sound suddenly crashing back down around me. They’re behind glass and they’re looking right at us, scraping at the windows, trying to get out. It’s only a matter of time before their combined weight shatters a window and then we’re all fucked.

The only way to escape is to crawl under the train. Seokwoo crawls under first and once he’s through, he calls for his daughter. Suan starts to crawl right as the train shifts. There’s a thud on his side of the train, the light that once shone through now blocked. We have no way to escape if he can’t get the opening cleared again.

“I didn’t think this is what would happen when you surprised me with tickets to Korea, Woo, but I just want to say thank you. I love you. You’re the brightest light in my life and I love you. So fucking much,” I tell my boyfriend, trying not to cry but not knowing if this is the end. “And I’m sorry we didn’t get to Sanie. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet your best friend. But I’m so happy I met you.”

“Lola, don’t cry. We’ll be okay. We’ll get out. I told you I’d keep you safe, right? We’ll be fine,” Wooyoung says, running a hand down my back before kissing me. “I love you too.”

I kiss my boyfriend one last time as one of the windows towards the end of our enclosed space breaks open, zombies tumbling out. The homeless man looks at us, the light shining through the opening once again, and then at the incoming zombies before making a decision, blocking the zombies from getting to us. We push Suan through first, then Seongkyeong, before Wooyoung makes me go before him. He barely makes it before the train collapses on top of where we once sat, zombies rushing over the top and towards us.

In middle school, I tried out for the track team. The only reason I didn’t make it is because the bitchy current track members didn’t want an outsider on the team. Running was always my favorite way to exercise until my freshman year of high school when I fell knee-first on some rocks and then fell later that day over some kid’s too-big book bag as I was returning to my seat. Since then, running hasn’t been one of my strong suits and if I run too hard, I have a tendency to trip.

So it’s no surprise to me when I feel my footing slip on the rocks, my ankle rolling as I fall. The others are ahead of me and haven’t noticed I’ve fallen. Except for Wooyoung.

“Lola!” he shouts. I try to tell him to keep running, to save himself, but he runs back to me. He’s got my hands in his and is pulling me up right as I feel fingers grip my ankle.

Still holding my hands, Wooyoung steps closer to the zombie and stomps on his hands until I’m released. It doesn’t matter, though. There are other zombies fast approaching and my ankle is screaming in pain. I can’t run. I’m of no use to Wooyoung like this. I’ll only slow him down.

Wooyoung doesn’t let that stop him though, picking me up and putting me on his back, running towards the moving train that our friends are trying to board.

\---

The train is moving fast, but thankfully Seokwoo, Suan, and Seongkyeong have already made it on board. Seokwoo is still standing on the ladder attached to the train, his arm outstretched towards me and Lola so he can help pull us up and I greatly appreciate it, but if something goes wrong, if shit happens and Lola and I don’t manage to make it, I don’t want him to just be standing on the ladder. I try to wave him off but he won’t give up, stretching out slightly farther before I push myself a bit harder and finally make it to the train. I hand Lola to him first before I jump onto the ladder, the zombies that were right behind us just managing to swipe at my pants before falling face first onto the rocks.

They’re still trying to get us though, one zombie managing to grip onto part of the train and other zombies jumping on top of him. They’re forming a massive pile behind the train and as more zombies join, the train starts to slow down, their combined weight pulling us back. The train is losing momentum fast and if we slow down any more, they could get to us. Our running could be for nothing.

Seokwoo gets back on the ladder and begins stomping on the hands holding the trains, doing his best to make the zombie let go, and I join him. He kicks, then I kick, and then him again and after thirty seconds of kicking and stomping, the zombies let go. With the abrupt change in speed, all of the zombies that were on top crash into each other. We’re safe. We’re safe again. Things are going to be okay now.

“Are you alright, Lola? Does anything hurt?” I ask, her face in my hands as I lean my forehead against hers.

“My ankle is killing me. I rolled it when I fell and then that zombie squeezed really hard. Thank you for saving me, Woo. Thank you. I love you so much,” she says.

“I love you. And I will always save you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

I kiss Lola, Suan giggling next to us before her dad tells her not to stare, Seongkyeong laughing too. My girlfriend tucks her head into my neck and I turn us so we can get into the front of the train. I don’t want to be so exposed anymore and the control room is enclosed.

How…how did the businessman get in the control room? And why are the veins in his face so dark and pronounced? His eyes…they’re pale blue? Then he got bit? The fucker got bit and still got on this fucking train?

I can’t hear what he’s saying to Seokwoo, but he steps closer and closer. Lola pulls Suan and Seongkyeong behind her and I pull Lola behind me, telling her to stay there. I have to help Seokwoo. I couldn’t help Sanghwa. I have to help him. Right as I’m behind Seokwoo, the man seems to snap fully into his new zombie role and launches towards us.

“Lola, stay back!” I shout. “Stay back and keep them safe, no matter what happens!”

Seokwoo is fighting the zombie alone and I want to help him, but he keeps telling me to stay back. I can’t just…let another person sacrifice themselves for us. He has a daughter. He needs to stay with her. If the two of us work together, we can push the man off the train.

But every time I step forward, Seokwoo shouts, “Wooyoung, stay back! Just stay with the girls, please. I’ve got this.”

Seokwoo almost falls off the train and as he’s dangling, the zombie turns towards us. Lola stands in front of Seongkyeong and Suan while I use my taped arms to push him backwards. We’re almost to the ladder opening, he’s almost about to be dead for fucking good, and then he grabs onto my shirt. He’s got two fistfuls of my shirt and Lola is screaming and if I get him off the side of the train, then I’m going with him. But they’ll all be safe. Lola will get to San in Busan, Suan will have her father, and Seongkyeong can have her baby. It’ll be okay if they’re safe. That’s all that matters.

And then the zombie lets go of my shirt. And Seokwoo’s hand is in his mouth, his arms around the zombie’s neck, pulling him away from me. Another friend bitten. Another friend lost.

Using this as leverage, Seokwoo tosses the zombie off of the train. He hasn’t started to turn yet, but I can see it in his face that he knows he only has a limited amount of time before he’s not himself anymore.

“Wooyoung, Seongkyeong, come here,” he says, grabbing me by the tape of my arm and dragging me towards the controls. “This is the brake. Once you get to the end, stop the train and get off. Keep each other safe. I know you’ll be fine. Just stick together.”

He makes Seongkyeong sit down in front of the controls then pushes me towards the other seat before turning to Lola and Suan. I’m unable to hear what he says to them over Suan’s cries, but he hugs his daughter one more time before shoving the two of them into the control room with us and slamming the door shut. Suan tries so hard to get to her dad, but Lola has her held tightly in her arms. My girlfriend is crying too, Seongkyeong is crying, and I’m trying to stay strong but it’s hard when the friends I’ve made today have also been lost.

I don’t even know if Jinhee and Yongguk are safe. Did the train kill them? Did they make it to a different train? Did the businessman use them like he did everybody else he crossed?

Are we finally safe now?

\---

We make it to a tunnel. It’s been blocked off with fences and traps and this must be our entryway into Busan. Seongkyeong stops the train and Wooyoung climbs down first, making sure the coast is clear before I let Suan and Seongkyeong down first. Suan clings onto her and Seongkyeong clutches at her stomach, walking through the fence ahead of us. I try to walk on my own but my ankle keeps twinging. I can’t do it and Wooyoung can tell, putting me on his back again. I know he’s tired but he keeps putting me first. I hope we can rest soon. I hope this ordeal is almost over.

The tunnel is dark. I can only see straight ahead. There are soldiers at the end and they have guns pointed at us. We’re not infected. We’re not zombies. How come they can’t see that?

Suan begins singing, loud enough to attract zombies but also loud enough to prove that we’re not infected. They soldiers shout and then rush towards us.

A soldier tries to take me from Wooyoung’s back but he won’t let me down. Wooyoung keeps walking and the soldiers flank us, making sure nothing rushes for us. Suan and Seongkyeong are carried to safety and immediately towards white tents. I hope they’re okay. I hope we see them again.

“Are we safe now?” I whisper once we get to a clearing, a sign saying we’ve made it to Busan.

“Yeah, baby,” he says. “We’re safe and we’re gonna find Sanie and the others. We’re safe now.”

\---

After making it into Busan, we were sent to a quarantine area where we had full body inspections to make sure we had no hidden bite marks. I stayed close to Lola’s side to make sure she didn’t fall over, even when we got to shower and wash off all the blood and dirt. I know the soldiers didn’t want us to shower together but I had no other way to make sure she wouldn’t fall and I couldn’t let them separate us. That’s the last thing we need right now and I think after their initial annoyance, the soldiers understood that. It wasn’t about me seeing my girlfriend naked. It was about making sure she was safe, her making sure I was safe, and just being together without being in a life-threatening situation. Once we were cleaned up, they provided us with simple clothing and gave our shoes back. I’m not sure where Seongkyeong and Suan were taken, but I was able to speak with some soldiers to find out if they knew where a Choi San was located.

Luckily one did and he’s taking us to Sanie and all of my other friends now. I’m still carrying Lola on my back, the doctors not having any real solution for her rolled ankle except to rest it, and I can tell she feels guilty that I’m doing this when she knows I’m just as exhausted as her, but I need her to know I would do anything for her. She’s never a burden and I love her more than gopchang.

“A lot of people have been able to keep their apartments and businesses open,” the soldier tells us as he leads the way. “Your friend, his apartment building was one of the first to be barricaded so no zombies could come in. Nobody in his building was turned. His job, his quaint coffee shop, was overrun unfortunately. I always got coffee there when I was allowed off base. His grandparents owned it and always treated me kindly. He does, too. So when he told me he had friends on that train, I promised myself I would keep an eye out for them. I am glad you both made it and that I could keep my promise. I’m glad I was able to repay his family’s kindness.”

The soldier greets the soldiers at the door and they let us in. San loves his apartment, loves that it’s high enough that he can see the ocean from his balcony, but the elevators aren’t working right now and we’re forced to use the stairwell to walk up eleven floors. It feels like forever but we eventually make it to the eleventh floor and the soldier points to where room seventeen is, telling us that we’ll be safe with San and our friends. I don’t know what that means when it comes to space and where everybody will sleep because I know San’s apartment isn’t terribly big, but that doesn’t matter right now. It just matters that we get there.

“This is us, babe. Room seventeen,” I say. Lola wiggles excitedly on my back and reaches in front so she can knock on the door for us.

There’s some shuffling on the other side before San asks, “Who’s there?”

I don’t want to answer and I can tell Lola doesn’t either because she just knocks again. San curses and my friends laugh, but he walks towards us. I can hear his feet at the door. He’s got to be checking the peep hole, right?

The door whips open and I don’t have time to prepare for him crashing into me, but as I stumble backwards, I can feel Lola slipping off my back and onto the floor.

“I thought you two were goners,” he says, still hugging me tightly. “I hadn’t heard from either of you in so long. I had no clue if you were still alive after exiting the train in Daegu. You didn’t call me when you got here, what the fuck! How long have you been here?”

“Maybe an hour, Sanie. We had to go through quarantine and they looked at Lola’s ankle. She twisted it while we were running towards the train in Daegu. Once we got through that, I spoke to a soldier who led us to you,” I tell him. “And as much as I love and missed your hugs, can you let go so I can pick Lola up? They didn’t do anything for her ankle and I was carrying her on my back but she fell on the ground when you tackled me.”

San lets me go and stares at me for a moment before leaning down to help Lola. She’s being soft and shy, not sure what to do now that she’s meeting him in person, but my best friend, my boyfriend?, is smooth and welcoming, breaking through her shell immediately.

“It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Lola. You’re even more gorgeous than over a video call,” he says, Lola blushing soon afterwards. I love them both so much. “If it’s alright with you, I’d really like to kiss you. Cheek, forehead, lips, tip of your nose. I don’t care. Wherever you’re comfortable being kissed. I just want to make sure you’re okay with that first.”

In response, Lola puckers her lips and San smiles, leaning down to kiss my girlfriend. Our girlfriend. It’s a short kiss, nothing too rated since this is still their first time meeting and we’ve been through some shit today, but once they pull apart, he wraps an arm around her waist before they turn to me.

“Do I get my kiss now too, then?” I ask him.

San smiles, leaning in to kiss me. He stops just shy of putting his lips fully on mine, whispering, “Don’t be cheeky,” against my lips before I finally get my first kiss from San in three years. It’s everything I remembered it being, sweet but with a touch of dominance, and I can feel myself melting for San again.

From inside the apartment, our friends start gagging and whistling at us, but I don’t care. I missed this. As much as I feel safe in Lola’s arms, I felt just as safe when I was in San’s arms. He was my first boyfriend, my high school sweetheart, and we’re together again at last in the way we always should’ve been. But instead of just us, we’ve got Lola too. The three of us are going to be together and happy and that’s all that matters.

We’re safe. And things are going to keep looking up as long as I have both of them.

After all, we survived this much.


	3. Epilogue

Two weeks after we arrived in Busan, they boarded the entrances so no more survivors or zombie could come in. Wooyoung, Seongkyeong, Suan, and I were the last survivors to join Busan.

A week after that, America worked with Korea to retrieve the American citizens. They sent a helicopter to a nearby hospital and took a few of us at a time over to a boat they had anchored nearby. Wooyoung and I were part of the last group to board. San was with us, but they wouldn’t let him board since he’d lived in Korea for three years.

We went home without him and it killed Wooyoung and me to leave him behind.

Two days later, we landed in New York and spent a month in quarantine. We had no access to our classes, our families, or each other. I spent a month in a room without Wooyoung, only speaking to the people who dropped off my meals and sending notes for my boyfriend through them.

Once out of quarantine, we went our separate ways, back to our regular lives. My dad greeted Wooyoung and me at the airport with my mom and his parents and, even though he was mad we had run off to Korea without telling him and he still hated my boyfriend, he gave us his blessings to stay together since Wooyoung had kept me safe.

One night I called Wooyoung on my house phone. I’d locked myself in my closet, so sure that there were zombies outside and trying to get to me. He rushed to Holly Springs from Raleigh, ran past my father in the living room, and sat neck to the door, talking me down until I was able to unlock the door. He pulled me into his arms and I cried. I cried so hard and kept asking for San. But when he went to call San, his phone said the number was no longer in service. He tried over Facebook, through KKT, every way we had been able to reach him before…but nothing. We both cried after that.

Eight months after returning to America, the Korean military, with help from America, England, Germany, and Japan, were able to clear the peninsula of remaining zombies. There was round-the-clock burning of bodies in crematories as news crews flew out to cover the restart of an entire country. The World Health Organization and CDC joined the military to make sure there were no signs of lingering infections and to check on the general health of the citizens.

We still hadn’t heard from San and had no way of getting in touch with him.

A month later, while getting ready for our college graduation, we caught sight of San while watching news coverage. His hair was longer, it was darker, his face was sharper, but he still had his muscles. He was standing in a line of survivors at a food bank, getting dinner from volunteers. It was the first time we’d seen his face since leaving Korea and we both began crying, our parents rushing to the living room of Wooyoung’s house to see what was wrong. When Wooyoung’s mother saw San on the screen, she began crying too.

I can’t remember what happened at my graduation. I remember sweating a lot in the church, taking pictures with Wooyoung, and then rushing to his graduation down the street. Then we were back at Woo’s for a joint graduation party. All of our friends came down for it, Hongjoong and Rayna taking a road trip from New York and picking up Seonghwa and Ellie from Virginia Tech on their way while Mingi, Jo, Yunho, and Mira drove together from UNC. Yeosang and Jongho worked for Yeosang’s dad and made sure they didn’t have to work that day.

I remember being as happy as I could be. I remember clinging to Wooyoung as more people arrived. I remember Wooyoung’s family pestering him to propose, my family pestering him to propose, even my dad pestering him, and the two of us laughing it off. Our friends tried to run counter measures to make sure we weren’t asked about marriage anymore and when it almost got to be too much, when I almost made Wooyoung take me to his room so we could escape all the people for a bit, Hongjoong walked up to us and showed us his phone screen.

It was our San.

San had video called Hongjoong. Wooyoung shrieked. I cried. San laughed. His first words to us were, “My babies, I missed you,” and after that, we ignored everybody else around us. It was our first time hearing from San in almost nine months and we didn’t care if our families called us rude.

It’s been three months since then. Wooyoung and I have our own apartment in Cary, the two of us commuting to Raleigh every day. He’s working for a local radio station and I got a job at Yeosang’s dad’s coffee shop while I finish my first book. San was so giggly and happy when I told him about my new job. We’ve been able to talk to him every night as Korea is rebuilt.

“What’re you thinking about, beautiful?” Wooyoung asks me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I shake my head and stop staring at all the balloons, flowers, and signs and tilt my head so I can look up at my Wooyoung. He’s still as beautiful as ever, his dark hair suiting him just as beautifully as the light purple did last year. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, brings me closer to him, before asking, “Are you feeling okay? Not too nervous with all these people?”

I shake my head. “As long as you’re right here, I’m okay.”

“Good because I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

He kisses the side of my head and we go back to standing in silence again. There are so many people and usually this amount of people would set my anxiety racing. I’m still not good with crowds and Wooyoung can’t stand when we’re separated. There are often days where I get panicked text messages at work, him desperately making sure that I’m okay, that I’m not injured, and asking me to call him as soon as I can so he can hear my voice. We’ve been undergoing therapy and it’s helped a lot, but there will always be bad days.

“Attention please, passengers from Flight 117 are now disembarking,” a voice says over the intercoms. “Please walk cautiously to Gate 4. Thank you.”

Wooyoung reaches for my hand and the two of us begin walking in that direction. There are a lot of people racing that way, trying to get there as fast as they can, hitting people with their balloons and flowers, and I chuckle to myself. “So much for walking cautiously, huh, Woo?” I ask.

“Yeah, so much for that.” He squeezes my hand and peeks behind us. “I still can’t believe a news channel found out about our story and picked it up. It seems weird. We’re just two kids who went on vacation to see their boyfriend.”

“I think they’re more interested in the part where we outlasted a bunch of zombies while stuck on a train, babe.”

“Yeah, probably. But the real story is how two people already in a relationship found love with the boy’s ex-boyfriend.”

I can’t help but snort, raising Wooyoung’s hand to my face and kissing it. “You’re an idiot, babe.”

“True, but you and Sanie love me.”

We make it to Gate 4 just in time to watch the first passengers walk through arrivals. A lot of people clap and cheer, the passengers waving at the cameras before finding family and friends in the crowd. I try not to get too impatient as we wait but it’s hard. This is the first flight from Korea since the outbreak and since they eradicated the virus. There’s a lot of people in Seattle for this reason. But I don’t care about all these other people, these other passengers. I just want San.

The passengers are starting to dwindle down and even though I know this is his flight, that he’ll eventually be here with us, I start to lose my hopes. It’s only when Wooyoung points at somebody towards the back that I realize the boy with the sharp face and black hair is our Sanie. He’s wearing all black, just carrying a small duffel bag of all his belongings, but he looks so gorgeous. It’s our San. He’s really here.

San is searching the crowd, but when he spots me, he smiles and dashes between passengers and reunited families, making his way towards us. It’s almost a repeat of when we met in Busan, only this time my ankle isn’t injured and I don’t fall to the ground. I’m able to wrap an arm around him and an arm around Wooyoung, the three of us trying to get as close as possible. San kisses both of us on the cheek before pulling away just to look at us.

“You two are beautiful,” San says, tears streaming down his face. “You’re so beautiful and your smiles are so amazing and you smell so good and I love you two so much. I love you, Wooyoung. I love you, Lola. I can’t believe this is real.”

I lean forward to kiss San, a short kiss so Wooyoung can kiss him as well, and there’s so much I want to say to him. That I want to say to both of them. But instead I wrap my arms around San, rest my head against his chest, and say, “Welcome home, Sanie.”

We still have to drive back to North Carolina from here, all of our money went towards paying for San’s ticket home, but home isn’t a state anymore. From now on, home is Wooyoung and San. Home is wherever my two boys are. That’s all I need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! The end! If you enjoyed, please let me know!! And let me know if you'd like other mini fics in this same universe, maybe less-zombies and more home life?

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think over on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mtchoisan) :)


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